Love Is Only Everything (LP)

Charles Walker & The Dynamites

Amoeba Review

04/01/2013

The Dynamites play faithful to classic soul and funk but have a few tricks up their sleeves — namely, Charles Walker’s gospel-tinged voice, which can go from boom to soaring, high-end vibrato in seconds. Band helmer Bill Elder knows how to conjure fondness for funk/soul oldies with songs you’ll have to check on twice to make sure they’re not covers — really, “Still Can’t Get You Out of My Heart” was written today? But they can also be appealingly strange. Walker sings “Wakie, Wakie” with a kind of soulful slur that makes the tune the funkiest alarm clock you can ask for. When they’re just going for it, on opening rave-up “So Much More to Do,” or offering cool, bass-driven soul on “Serendipity,” you look past the lack of innovation by enjoying just how flexible and solid The Dynamites are, expeditiously working itself into a froth on the faster tracks while exploding into near-psychedelic colors on the slow and steady “Keep Close,” featuring perfectly paired vocals from Bettye LaVette. While The Dynamites don’t leave their era of inspiration on Love is Only Everything, it’s just about as good a visit to classic-age soul as you could ask for.